Royal Enfield nobbled by big wet
With Chennai recording its heaviest rainfall for over a century, the bike maker has been forced to close two of its manufacturing plantsMassive rainfall in the southern Indian city of Chennai — December 3 was the wettest December day in over 100 years — has forced Eicher Motors, the maker of Royal Enfield motorcycles, to close down two of its factories.
The latest deluge follows on from weeks of intense rainfall, with Royal Enfield now estimating lost production at 4000 units — with undoubtedly more still to come if the big wet continues.
"The unprecedented rainfall in Chennai has severely affected the city, including our employees, our manufacturing facilities and offices. The floods caused by the rain have also impacted logistics and our supply-chain, resulting in disruption of our production," Royal Enfield said in a statement.
"As a consequence, we have shut down our offices in the city and our plants in Thiruvottiyur and Oragadam since December 1. We are working to ensure that all our employees are safe. We are monitoring the situation closely and hoping for normalcy to return soon."
Other automobile firms, including Hyundai, Ford, Renault have also suspended operations at their respective plants in and around the city. Other multinational companies also have operations in Chennai, including IBM.
The Associated Chambers of Commerce of India estimates the overall economic loss from the flooding at a mind-blowing $2.25 billion.
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